De Structura

De Structura Contemporary art platform with a two-fold mission
⬜️ strengthen emerging art professionals
🟪 build cross-sectoral collaboration structures

De Structura the non profit will look into the structures of the art world from the perspective of young professionals and will strive to give early career Europeans the tools to be successful in pursuing a meaningful career in the arts and bringing innovation to the culture sector. De Structura the project will gather 150 young aspiring professionals in the fields of visual and performing arts. They will join the project from different countries of the European continent to communicate with experts and their peers in order to realise 25 cross-border projects and discover the institutional politics of art.

Drawing Lines is on view at the European Forum Alpbach European Forum Alpbach (EFA) through tomorrow.Seven artists, two ...
03/09/2026

Drawing Lines is on view at the European Forum Alpbach European Forum Alpbach (EFA) through tomorrow.

Seven artists, two regions. Viktoria Berezina, Bob Bicknell-Knight, Daniel Costa, Silvestro Geier, Siiri Jüris, Anna Sausgruber and Sara Welponer, from Estonia and South Tyrol, in one show. Co-curated by De Structura and Social Innovation Hub.

The starting point is the region itself. Both South Tyrol and Estonia entered the twentieth century inside multi-ethnic empires, and both left it transformed by the borders those empires’ collapse set loose. South Tyrol, recorded as 89 percent German-speaking in 1910, was handed to Italy without a plebiscite in 1919, its language banned from schools and courts, kept alive in clandestine classrooms run from homes and sacristies.

Estonia’s national movement was carried by the Song Festival from 1869, through independence in 1918, occupation, deportation and exile, back through the Singing Revolution to independence in 1991.

People on the edge of empires tend to refuse the labels pressed on them. Identity there isn’t fixed, it’s relational and negotiated.

ContemporaryArt

Yesterday at the European Forum Alpbach European Forum Alpbach (EFA), the session we curated took place. Our director An...
01/09/2026

Yesterday at the European Forum Alpbach European Forum Alpbach (EFA), the session we curated took place.

Our director Anastasia Lemberg-Lvova joined Pille-Riin Lillepalu-Tubli from Tartu University Viljandi Culture Academy, Katharina Johanna Zeller, Mayor of Merano, and Hannes Götsch, founder of BASIS Vinschgau Venosta, to talk about art-based cross-innovation.

The starting point was simple. Art is usually treated as a luxury part of the programme, good to have if possible, but not a priority. We wanted to discuss what happens when artists take an active role in shaping innovation instead.

We opened with a few cases. The Artists Placement Group put artists inside British industry in the 1960s and 70s, working from the idea that someone embedded in an organisation notices what the organisation cannot see about itself.

In Estonia, the Ministry of Finance worked with design students from the Estonian Academy of Arts to rebuild how the state budget is presented, so it reads as something other than a wall of numbers. And the Academy of Security Sciences of Estonia, of all institutions, is now enrolling more students with a culture background for their adaptability and edge in unpredictable situations. After that, Katharina talked about why she is eager to invest in culture and create a good platform for it to thrive in her city.

Then we opened the floor, and that’s where the session earned its keep. The questions were pointed: What happens when art is used without artists having any real say in the outcome? Where do the compromises sit? Where do different sectors simply talk past each other, and what would it take to close that gap?

One line from the discussion stayed with us. Most of what gets called innovation is optimisation of something that already exists. The harder version is stepping back and rethinking the whole picture, building something genuinely different. That is where art has something to offer, if we actually let it in.

Photos by Anne Sausgruber kaffeek.anne

ArtAndInnovatio

Urban Cross-Pollination Aparaaditehas Workshop in Tartu🌱 Vol. IIOne recurring theme throughout the workshop was the impo...
11/05/2026

Urban Cross-Pollination Aparaaditehas Workshop in Tartu
🌱 Vol. II

One recurring theme throughout the workshop was the importance of creating more spaces where different kinds of knowledge can meet.

Participants spoke about wanting to learn from people outside their own fields, to exchange perspectives, and to better understand how urban environments are shaped socially, culturally, ecologically, and politically.

Some came interested in public space and accessibility.

Others focused on gentrification, participation, local identity, or cultural infrastructure.

Several participants reflected on the need for spaces that support emerging artists, community activity, and informal collective use within the city.

Working from the context of Aparaaditehas and its surrounding neighbourhood, the workshop became a temporary framework for experimentation: combining artistic methods, urban observation, discussion, speculative thinking, and collaborative ideation.

Thank you to everyone who contributed their ideas, openness, curiosity, and critical reflections throughout the weekend!

On to Oslo next in June, where the workshop will be led by Natural State .

Photos by

CultureLedRegeneration ParticipatoryUrbanism CreativeCities UrbanDevelopment ArtAndCities

Urban Cross-Pollination Aparaaditehas Workshop in Tartu🐝 Vol. IWhat kinds of urban futures become possible when artists,...
11/05/2026

Urban Cross-Pollination Aparaaditehas Workshop in Tartu
🐝 Vol. I

What kinds of urban futures become possible when artists, planners, researchers, students, environmental thinkers, and local residents sit at the same table?

Over three days in Tartu, Urban Cross-Pollination brought together participants from different disciplines to collectively explore the Aparaaditehas area through workshops, site walks, discussion, mapping, and collaborative proposal-building.

Many arrived with questions already in mind:
How can outdoor space become more accessible and inclusive?
How do local residents maintain a voice in rapidly transforming neighbourhoods?
What kinds of spaces are needed for artists, musicians, youth communities, and everyday social life?
How can culture-led regeneration avoid becoming disconnected from local needs?

Participants also brought with them an unusually broad range of experiences from urban planning and placemaking to performance art, street interventions, public installations, gardening initiatives, social entrepreneurship, architecture, and grassroots organising.
Rather than approaching the city as something fixed, the workshop explored Tartu as a living and evolving environment shaped by memory, movement, public space, participation, and imagination.

Vol. II in the next post with more photos by

🐝 FOUR DAYS LEFT TO APPLY!OPEN CALL: URBAN CROSS-POLLINATION, TARTU, 17-19 APRIL. 🐝 The first ever building on the Apara...
07/04/2026

🐝 FOUR DAYS LEFT TO APPLY!

OPEN CALL: URBAN CROSS-POLLINATION, TARTU, 17-19 APRIL. 🐝

The first ever building on the Aparaaditehas site appears on a map from 1870. The first industrial spaces built in the early 20th century likely housed smithy operations. During the post-war Soviet occupation, the area was semi-closed and theories abound as to exactly what was produced here, but it was likely a mix of space rocket and submarine parts, refrigeration equipment and other civilian apparatuses. In the 1970s, the factory provided employment for almost 1,500 people, had its own health centre, canteen, and even a resident artist.

Today, the former Apparatus Factory functions as a Cultural Factory, housing creative businesses, galleries, small enterprises and restaurants – all inside a residential quarter. The pool and health centre are gone, but its plastic-granuled mosaic walls by artist Mark Kalpin still exist.

The area is expected to evolve rapidly in the coming years. As new developments bring more people, ideas and business interest, we will gather to ask:

/ What are the local needs, ambitions and potential future scenarios for the district?
/ How can artistic methods and cross-sectoral dialogue meaningfully shape these visions?

We are inviting artists, urbanists, academics, local entrepreneurs and community members to join us for a 3-day workshop to collectively map ideas for the Aparaaditehas district.

Enter the OPEN CALL by 10 April through the link in our bio.

Urban Cross-Pollination is a collaboration between De Structura and Natural State, an agency specialising in sustainable place development and circular economy. The project will unfold throughout 2026 with a second workshop in Oslo’s Grünerløkka district.

Photos by Mana Kaasik from 2025.

🟦🟨 CIDAY26 | A day of collaboration across disciplines ◼︎🟪 CIDAY26 brought together professionals from culture, public s...
15/03/2026

🟦🟨 CIDAY26 | A day of collaboration across disciplines ◼︎

🟪 CIDAY26 brought together professionals from culture, public sector, architecture, academia, defence, engineering, sustainability and other walks of life for a full day of discussion, experimentation, and exchange around art-based cross-innovation. ◼︎

🟠 Held in Tallinn on a bright March day, the programme combined several formats: the presentation of the Cross-Innovation Compass, a panel discussion on structural constraints to sustainable ways of being, three thematic sessions (Art x Defence, Art x Circularity, Art x Engineering), and smaller walking dialogues that allowed conversations to continue in a more informal setting.

🔳 Throughout the day, participants examined how artistic practices can operate within sectors typically defined by efficiency, technical expertise, and institutional structures. The discussions addressed how artistic methods can help surface blind spots, encourage reflection on complex challenges, and support new forms of collaboration across disciplines.

🟢 A recurring observation from participants was the value of bringing together people working in different professional environments and creating space for perspectives that rarely meet within standard sectoral frameworks.

The Cross-Innovation Compass, developed through the CIC project and launched at CIDAY, is now publicly available.

Explore it via link in bio 🔗

Thank you for joining us on that sunny day! ☀️

Photos by

🟧🔲 Parallel sessions: Art x Defence, Art x Circularity, Art x Engineering 🟣CIDAY26 | 6 March | 13:30–15:30 ◼︎The afterno...
02/03/2026

🟧🔲 Parallel sessions: Art x Defence, Art x Circularity, Art x Engineering 🟣
CIDAY26 | 6 March | 13:30–15:30 ◼︎

The afternoon at CIDAY unfolds through three facilitated working sessions. Each places art-based cross-innovation inside a structurally demanding field and explores what shifts when artistic practice meets institutional reality.

The sessions are chaired by young professionals from defence, circular economy, and engineering, bringing sector expertise and lived constraints into the room.

🟦 Art x Defence — Aron Roosberg .roosberg (Sweden)
Second Lieutenant in the Swedish Army with a specialisation in counter–special forces tactics. He trains conscripts at the Norrbotten Armoured Battalion and serves as Vice Chair of the Young Atlantic Treaty Association of Sweden while pursuing a degree in political science.

The session examines how artistic methods can surface blind spots and ethical tensions within highly regulated defence structures.

🟢 Art x Circularity — Martin Hagen (Norway)

Project manager and social economist at Natural State working across circular economy, place development, and cross-sector collaboration. He has led initiatives including the Nordic Circular Summit and the Poland Circularity Gap Report.

The session explores how artistic approaches can make systemic flows and long-term impacts tangible across sectors.

🟨 Art x Engineering — Frank Heusser (Switzerland)

Electrical engineer and strategy developer for distributed hardware platforms, focused on effective hardware–software integration and responsible development processes.

The session reflects on how artistic practice can expand creative problem-solving within engineering.

Each chair will be accompanied by an art world co-chair.

Expression of interest open until 1 March.
More via link in bio 🔗

🟪 Opening Session: The Cross-Innovation Compass in Context🟢 CIDAY26 | 6 March | 10:30–11:15 ◼︎The day begins with a stru...
24/02/2026

🟪 Opening Session: The Cross-Innovation Compass in Context
🟢 CIDAY26 | 6 March | 10:30–11:15 ◼︎

The day begins with a structured introduction to the Cross-Innovation Compass, a practical framework developed by De Structura together with Arteconomy in collaboration with EIT Culture & Creativity .

We’ll unpack:
• What the Compass is
• How it was developed
• How it applies to real cross-sector contexts

Session flow:

▪ Anastasia Lemberg-Lvova introduces the overall project and the logic behind the Compass, why art-based innovation needs structure while remaining open.

▪ Maria Claudia Coppola (online) places the work within EIT Culture & Creativity’s Transformation Area, connecting cultural practice to systemic European transformation 🌍

▪ Nikita Gavrilenko walks us through the visual architecture of the Compass, how to navigate it and how design supports the mindset of art innovation 🎨

▪ Koen Snoeckx (online) presents the Dutch Police case (“Social Design Police”), a concrete example of art-based cross-innovation embedded inside a large institution ⚙️

Since 2017, the Dutch Police have run 20+ projects linking officers with artists and social designers. Coordinated by two Creative Leaders, the initiative generated impact across an organisation of 70,000+ employees.

At CIDAY, this case will be introduced as a working model of structured art-based innovation within institutional systems.

More via link in bio 🔗

Join us and ask the speakers your questions about the Compass.

🟦🟨 Panel Discussion: Why art-based cross-innovation now?🟢 CIDAY26 | 6 March | 11:15–12:30 ◼︎We live in a world saturated...
24/02/2026

🟦🟨 Panel Discussion: Why art-based cross-innovation now?
🟢 CIDAY26 | 6 March | 11:15–12:30 ◼︎

We live in a world saturated with innovation, expertise, and technological solutions — yet many of our core challenges continue to deepen.

🔵 The uncomfortable question is: what if our dominant ways of innovating are part of the problem?

This panel explores how assumptions about efficiency, control, and progress shape what solutions are imaginable — and which are systematically excluded.

From this perspective, art-based cross-innovation is not about making innovation more creative.

It is about unsettling established logics and opening space for fundamentally different ways of thinking, acting, and organising.

The discussion invites participants to consider whether meaningful change requires not better solutions, but a rethinking of the systems that keep reproducing the same outcomes.

Speakers:

▪ Anna-Kati Pahker
Sustainability transitions researcher at the University of Tartu examining the limits of technological optimism and advocating deeper social transformation beyond technical fixes.

▪ Kati Uusi-Rauva
Director of EIT Culture & Creativity with 25+ years of experience in creative sector development and internationalisation. Doctoral researcher in anthropology at the University of Oulu.

▪ Markus Järve
Hardware engineer and technology consultant working across robotics, e-mobility, IoT, automotive, military, and aerospace sectors — bridging engineering, strategy, and organisational realities.

▪ Elin Frost
Senior project manager and multidisciplinary artist leading Cross Innovation Southern Sweden within Region Skåne and Region Blekinge, facilitating cross-sector collaboration inside public structures.

More via link in bio 🔗

Join us at CIDAY and bring your questions to the Q&A.

🟪 Testing the Cross-Innovation Compass in Lier, Belgium ◼︎On 12 November 2025, Arteconomy organised a Cross-Innovation C...
22/02/2026

🟪 Testing the Cross-Innovation Compass in Lier, Belgium ◼︎

On 12 November 2025, Arteconomy organised a Cross-Innovation Compass testing workshop at De Kwekerij in Lier.

The workshop formed part of a European cooperation project between Arteconomy and De Structura, supported by the Erasmus+ Programme. ◻️
The session was designed as a hands-on testing environment 📓✍🏻

Participants worked directly with selected Compass tools, formats, and prompts, applying them to real professional contexts.

We explored questions such as:

▪ How can cross-innovation be implemented in higher education?
▪ How can young graduates apply artistic methods across sectors?

The programme included:
🎲 A guided introduction to the Compass
🎲 A role-playing board game immersing participants in cross-innovation scenarios
🎲 Parallel working sessions
🎲 A plenary reflection

The focus was on testing clarity, adaptability, and transferability ◼︎ Qualitative feedback was collected through facilitated discussions and evaluation moments.

Next stop: CIDAY26 in Tallinn, where the Compass continues its journey. 🟢

More about the project → https://destructura.com/ciday26/
Expression of interest → https://destructura.typeform.com/ciday-interest?typeform-source=destructura.com

Photos by Anastasia Lemberg-Lvova

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